Not Too Much Intensity Poem by gershon hepner

Not too much intensity,
said Kay, on the occasion
of reading of ‘Crustacean
Island.’ The immensity
of what surrounds us may
make us withdraw and shrink,
she said, which made me blink,
for I look forward, unlike Kay,
to being on an island where
the residents aren’t cold,
but warm though some are old,
flamenco dancing when they dare.

Inspired by a poem Kay Ryan read to Charlie Rose on November 6th,2008, congratulating herself on her brevity and her aversion to intensity.

Crustacean Island

There could be an island paradise
where crustaceans prevail.
Click, click, go the lobsters
with their china mitts and
articulated tails.
It would not be sad like whales
with their immense and patient sieving
and the sobering modesty
of their general way of living.
It would be an island blessed
with only cold-blooded residents
and no human angle.
It would echo with a thousand castanets
and no flamencos.


11/8/08